Study 1: Selection of a social comparison group

This study aimed to explore which spontaneous social comparisons older adults make when they are asked to assess their subjective age and their health. Lateral comparisons allow older adults to determine their self-esteem and to settle age-related changes (Ferring and Hoffmann, Reference Ferring and Hoffmann2007). Thus, older adults might compare themselves to their peer group when making spontaneous social comparisons. Nevertheless, because older people report younger subjective age relative to their chronological age (Kotter-Grühn et al., Reference Kotter-Grühn, Kornadt and Stephan2016) and because they evaluate their health as relatively good (Sperlich et al., Reference Sperlich, Tetzlaff and Geyer2019), it is possible that they would also compare themselves to younger people or to themselves when they were younger. Study 1 examines these possibilities.

Results and comment

We omitted five participants whose subjective age score exceeded three standard deviations from the mean score of the entire sample. Table 1 presents the distribution of comparison groups that participants selected after providing their assessment of subjective age and self-rated health.

Table 1.

Distribution of comparison groups that participants selected, by type of assessment

Note: The number of participants differs across comparisons because some participants were excluded due to outlier or failed to select a comparison group after one of the assessments.

Because the number of participants who compared themselves to people who were 10 years older than themselves was negligible, we excluded these respondents from all further analyses. We then combined participants who compared themselves to people who were 10 years younger and participants who compared themselves to their younger selves, as these two groups did not differ in any of the parameters reported below. Exclusion of participants based on subjective age ratings, comparison to older adults and failure to select a comparison group after one of the assessments left 131 participants in the sample. An exact McNemar test revealed a statistically significant difference in the selection of comparison groups (younger versus same age) while assessing subjective age or self-rated health (McNemar χ² = 15.02, p < 0.001). Thus, more individuals compared themselves to younger people when they reported their subjective age relative to the proportion of people who did so when they rated their health.

Next, we examined whether participants who reported that they compared themselves to younger people differed from participants who reported that they compared themselves to people of their same age. A one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) examined the difference between participants who selected younger comparison groups and participants who selected same age when assessing their subjective age, while controlling for gender and education. These analyses showed significant differences in subjective age, F(1, 135) = 21.10, p < 0.001, $\eta _p^2 = 0.135$, in self-rated health, F(1, 130) = 8.19, p = 0.005, $\eta _p^2 = 0.059$, and in ERA, F(1, 128) = 5.98, p = 0.016, $\eta _p^2 = 0.045$. In all cases, participants who reported that they compared themselves to younger people fared better than did participants who reported that they compared themselves to people of the same age (see Table 2). An equivalent ANCOVA that controlled for gender and education showed no differences between participants who selected younger comparison groups and participants who selected same age when assessing their self-rated health: subjective age, F(1, 127) = 2.19, p = 0.141, $\eta _p^2 = 0.017$, self-rated health, F(1, 127) = 1.08, p = 0.308, $\eta _p^2 = 0.008$, and ERA, F(1,127) = 1.36, p = 0.245, $\eta _p^2 = 0.011$ (see Table 2). That is, selection of a comparison group following health ratings was not related to participants’ perceptions.

Table 2.

Means and standard deviations (SD) of subjective age, self-rated health and expectations regarding ageing (ERA) scores in Study 1, by assessment and selected comparison group

Note: Smaller (more negative) proportional subjective age scores indicate younger subjective age.

The results show that older adults compared themselves primarily to their peer group when assessing both their subjective age and their perceived health. In addition, more participants compared themselves to younger people when assessing their subjective age than when assessing their health. Participants who compared themselves to younger people when assessing their subjective age felt younger and healthier and had more positive expectations regarding ageing than participants who compared themselves to their own age group. In contrast, the selection of social comparison group had no effect when it referred to self-rated health.

Study 1 examined which social comparisons older adults make spontaneously when they assess their subjective age and their health, demonstrating that some older adults select a younger comparison group, and that such comparisons may have beneficial consequences. Study 2 further investigates these findings by examining reaction to experimentally defined comparisons.

Study 2: Reaction to social comparison

To examine reaction to social comparison feedback, we used a vocabulary test, and gave participants feedback about their performance on the test. We chose to use a vocabulary test because it has been shown that such a test has no effect on the assessment of subjective age, unlike other cognitive tests (e.g. Hughes et al., Reference Hughes, Geraci and De Forrest2013). Feedback conditions manipulated the age of the comparison group. Following feedback, participants assessed their subjective age (Study 2a) or their self-rated health (Study 2b).

Study 2a: Assessment of subjective age following social comparison feedback

The purpose of Study 2a was to examine whether social comparisons influence subjective age. Based on our findings in Study 1, we hypothesised that comparison to younger adults would lead participants to report a younger subjective age relative to comparison to same-age peers.

Method

Participants

The sample included 50 participants (25 women, 25 men) between the ages of 60 and 87 (mean = 70.28, SD = 7.30), who were born in Israel and were native Hebrew speakers; their mean number of years of formal schooling was 16.16 (SD = 3.76). Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions (for full demographic details, see Table 3). Recruitment used snowball sampling among community-dwelling volunteers. There were no significant differences in age, t(48) = 0.77, p = 0.44, d = 0.21, or in education, t(48) = 0.74, p = 0.45, d = 0.21, between the two experimental conditions. The proportion of females was lower in the compare-to-young group relative to the compare-to-same age group, χ²(1, N = 50) = 6.48, p = 0.011. The study received approval from the Ethics Committee of The Open University of Israel.

Table 3.

Sample characteristics in Studies 2a and 2b, by experimental condition

Notes: 1. Number of years. 2. Number of years of formal schooling. SD: standard deviation.

Experimental conditions

Participants received two types of feedback concerning their performance on the vocabulary test.

Compare to young

In this condition, the feedback compared participants to younger people, saying: ‘You completed the task successfully. Your performance was similar to the performance of young people.’

Compare to same age

In this condition, the feedback compared participants to people of the same age, saying: ‘You completed the task successfully. Your performance was similar to the performance of people your age.’

Measures

Vocabulary test

We used a 12-item multiple-choice vocabulary test (Kavé et al., Reference Kavé, Sapir-Yogev, Zamsh and Waintraub2022), in which each item includes a target word and four alternative responses of either one word or a short phrase. Participants were asked to mark the correct interpretation by clicking on it. A preliminary study that included 50 native Hebrew speakers (mean = 68.59, SD = 7.58, range 60–83) showed that participants who completed the vocabulary test were similar to those who did not complete the vocabulary test in subjective age, t(48) = 1.12, p = 0.26, d = 0.32, and in self-rated health, t(41) = 1.16, p = 0.25, d = 0.35. Thus, the test itself had no effect on these measures.

Subjective age

Participants provided a number in years that reflected their subjective age, after reading the following sentence: ‘Many people feel older or younger than they actually are. What age do you feel most of the time?’ (e.g. Hughes and Lachman, Reference Hughes and Lachman2018). The participant's chronological age was subtracted from the reported age, and the result was divided by the participant's chronological age to allow for proportional discrepancy scores.

Procedure

Participants received an email with an invitation to complete an online survey. Within the survey, they first provided demographic information (e.g. chronological age, gender, number of years of formal schooling), and then they completed the vocabulary test. After the test, they received feedback on their performance and then assessed their subjective age.

Results and comment

We omitted one participant whose subjective age score exceeded three standard deviations from the mean score of the entire sample. Table 4 shows success rate on the vocabulary test.

Table 4.

Means and standard deviations (SD) of subjective age, self-rated health and vocabulary success rate, by study and experimental condition

Note: Smaller (more negative) proportional subjective age scores indicate younger subjective age.

Participants on the two feedback conditions did not differ in their performance on the vocabulary test, t(47) = 1.43, p = 0.15, d = 0.41. Participants who received feedback that compared them to younger people assessed their subjective age as younger than did participants who received feedback that compared them to people of the same age, F(1, 47) = 10.33, p = 0.002, $\eta _p^2$ = 0.18. An ANCOVA that controlled for gender, years of schooling and actual performance revealed the same group difference in subjective age, F(1, 44) = 6.45, p = 0.015, $\eta _p^2$ = 0.128.

The results suggest that participants who received feedback that compared their performance to the performance of younger adults reported younger subjective age than did participants who received feedback that compared their performance to that of their same-age peers. Thus, individuals who were led to compare themselves to younger people felt younger than those who were led to compare themselves to older people.

Study 2b: Assessment of self-rated health following social comparison feedback

The purpose of Study 2b was to examine whether social comparisons influence self-rated health. Based on the findings of Study 1, we hypothesised that the type of social comparison would not affect self-rated health as it affected subjective age.

General discussion

We conducted two experiments in which participants over the age of 60 were asked to report to whom they compared themselves when they assessed their subjective age or their health, and received feedback that made them compare themselves to either younger people or to their same-age peers.

Study 1 shows that the distribution of comparison groups is different for the assessment of subjective age and for the assessment of self-rated health, so that more individuals compare themselves to younger people when they report their subjective age relative to the proportion of people who do so when they rate their health. However, for both types of assessments, participants compared themselves to their peer group more often than they compared themselves to any other group. These findings strengthen the argument that social comparisons in older age serve the need for accurate self-assessment as well as the need for normalising age-related changes (Ferring and Hoffmann, Reference Ferring and Hoffmann2007). Thus, comparing oneself to others of the same age may reflect a lateral or a downward comparison, whose main motive is to feel better. Indeed, older adults felt generally younger than their chronological age and rather healthy, even when comparing themselves to their peers.

Yet, comparison to same-age peers could serve more than one function. A lateral comparison involves a comparison to others who are perceived as similar in the examined ability (Gerber et al., Reference Gerber, Wheeler and Suls2018). In this sense, selecting same-age peers as a comparison group means that participants conduct a lateral comparison. Since this lateral comparison resulted in younger subjective age relative to chronological age, we believe that the comparison to one's peer group is actually a downward comparison. The purpose of this comparison is to distance oneself from the negative perception of old age. This argument is in line with earlier research that demonstrated that older adults who were exposed to negative stereotypes about ageing reported a younger subjective age compared to those who were not exposed to negative stereotypes (e.g. Kotter-Grühn and Hess, Reference Kotter-Grühn and Hess2012; Weiss and Lang, Reference Weiss and Lang2012).

Study 1 further suggests that some participants compared themselves to younger age groups. When assessing subjective age, participants who compared themselves to younger people reported a younger subjective age, better self-rated health and more positive expectations of ageing than those who compared themselves to their peers. This comparison may represent an upward comparison or a lateral comparison. Upward comparisons involve looking up to someone who is better off (Taylor et al., Reference Taylor, Neter and Wayment1995). A comparison to younger people, who are perceived as better than older adults in various aspects, may thus reflect an upward comparison. However, it is also possible that those who feel younger select a younger comparison group because they feel that they belong in that group, thus making a lateral comparison.

Furthermore, it is possible that some participants compared themselves to younger people due to their self-ageism. That is, participants who fear the implications of growing old, such as the loss of good health, independence, usefulness and, ultimately, life (Sargent-Cox, Reference Sargent-Cox2017), may wish to distance themselves from older adults even when they are old themselves. Although ageism may refer to how others view older adults, it is also relevant to how older adults feel about their own group (Bodner et al., Reference Bodner, Cohen-Fridel and Yaretzky2011). In fact, research suggests that older people internalise the attitudes that prevail in society concerning old age (Ayalon and Tesch-Römer, Reference Ayalon and Tesch-Römer2018), and that ageist attitudes affect subjective age ratings (Bodner et al., Reference Bodner, Shrira, Hoffman and Bergman2021). Unfortunately, we did not ask our participants explicitly whether they were attempting to distance themselves from negative stereotypes of ageing. It remains to be seen whether such explicit distancing mediates the effects of social comparisons on subjective age.

Study 2 demonstrates that participants who received feedback that compared their performance to the performance of younger people reported younger subjective age than did participants who received feedback that compared their performance to their peers. Previous reaction studies have pointed out two main patterns: assimilation and contrast (Gerber, Reference Gerber, Zeigler-Hill and Shackelford2018). Assimilation occurs when the comparison makes people feel closer to the target of comparison, whereas a contrast occurs when people shift away from the target (Wheeler and Suls, Reference Wheeler and Suls2007). According to Collins (Reference Collins1996), an upward comparison could lead to either of these two main patterns, depending on whether the comparison is construed as indicating similarity to the comparison target or difference from this target. Since people may expect some similarity to any comparison target who is within their own range of ability, a certain degree of assimilation will occur in almost all cases. The effect of contrast is generally stronger than the effect of assimilation, and thus it often masks the effect of assimilation. In some contexts, the expectation of similarity becomes stronger, thus leading to a stronger assimilation effect (Collins, Reference Collins1996). We propose that receiving feedback that compares the performance of older adults to the performance of younger adults made participants embrace group similarities. Thus, participants might have viewed themselves as part of a younger age group, and consequently reported younger subjective age. This argument fits well with the conclusion of Gerber et al. (Reference Gerber, Wheeler and Suls2018) that in instances of assimilation, the comparer's self-evaluation moves towards the comparison target.

Both Studies 1 and 2 suggest that social comparison is differentially related to the assessment of subjective age and to the report of self-rated health. In Study 1, participants who assessed their health and compared themselves to younger people and those who compared themselves to their peers did not differ in subjective age, self-rated health and expectations regarding ageing. In Study 2, participants who received feedback that compared them to either younger or older adults did not differ in their assessment of their health. There could be several explanations for these findings. First, previous studies have shown that individuals provide high ratings of subjective health (Sperlich et al., Reference Sperlich, Tetzlaff and Geyer2019), and remain optimistic about their health despite normal age-related decline in physical abilities (Chipperfield, Reference Chipperfield1993). Indeed, our participants reported good self-rated health (approximately 4 on a 1–5 scale). This ceiling effect in self-rated health could have affected our analyses. Second, while subjective age may be subject to a range of situations and daily changes (Geraci et al., Reference Geraci, De Forrest, Hughes, Saenz and Tirso2018; Bellingtier and Neupert, Reference Bellingtier and Neupert2020; Bodner et al., Reference Bodner, Shrira, Hoffman and Bergman2021), longitudinal studies usually report that self-rated health is rather stable over time (Spini et al., Reference Spini, Clémence and Ghisletta2007). Thus, it is possible that individuals have a stable perception of their health that cannot be easily manipulated experimentally. Third, subjective age is always examined against chronological age, which is an objective measure. In contrast, the self-rated health measure that we used was not calculated relative to any other objective health measure. It is possible that a health measure that would be calculated more similarly to the calculation of the subjective age measure would lead to different results.

In conclusion, the current findings may help explain why older adults feel younger and healthier than they actually are. We propose that they do so because they select social comparisons that help them protect their self-image from the negative perceptions of ageing. Future research should examine whether these conclusions are also relevant for the many dimensions of the subjective age construct (as defined by Kastenbaum et al., Reference Kastenbaum, Derbin, Sabatini and Artt1972), and whether social comparisons can be helpful in interventions that attempt to affect older adults’ general feelings towards their age.